There will be no official club ride this Sunday 9th September. But many VCN members will be meeting at the Showground on Sunday afternoon to cheer on the pros at the finish of the Tour of Britain stage 1 finish… as well as sample the entertainment on offer and enjoy the late summer sunshine. Come and join us there.

Saturday 8th September 2012

A VCN “fast” group is planning to leave the start at Christchurch Park, Ipswich for the 200 km Pro Ride by no later than 8.00 am.  This group is open to all VCN members.

Info from the Tour Ride organisers suggests we may have to register & collect transponders at the start, so please aim to get to the park at about 7.30 am so we can all get away by 8 am.

The larger the VCN peloton, the better the ride, as we are hoping to average 20 mph, similar to the Norwich 100.  Don’t forget club kit!

Any queries for the Ipswich departure group, email robstronge@vcnorwich.co.uk

We will also be running a club group on the “short” ride from Great Yarmouth. This one will leave Norwich from Heartsease roundabout at 8.00am prompt to ride to the GY start for 10.00am where we hope to meet other club members to ride at “middle group” pace (17-18mph). As above, lets see everyone in club kit.

Any queries for the Great Yarmouth group, email chairman@vcnorwich.co.uk

Ever wondered how you get to the Sunday cafe and back?  Wonder no more.  Thanks to sterling work by Owen Marsden and James Browne you can now view typical Sunday Club Ride routes on the VCN website.  You can also download the .gpx for use on mapping devices such as a Garmin.

Click HERE for the VCN routes web page.

The last VC Norwich Evening Ride will take place this Thursday 30th August 2012.

With the nights drawing in fast, next week there will be insufficient time to get everyone around and back into Norwich before dark, especially if someone has a puncture.

This of course does not prevent people from organising their own evening rides, but they will not be official VCN led rides.

Many thanks to everyone who has participated in the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday rides and made them so enjoyable.  They will start up again next April 2013.

Despite a busy schedule of Olympic preparation and competition, as well as
collecting an honorary degree form the UEA, Emma Pooley still managed to find
time to drop in unannounced and ride with VCN fast group on Saturday. It’s not
every day we get to ride with our favourite olympic medallist, world champion
and podium placed rider from the grand tours…It’s always a pleasure to see you
Emma and good luck with the rest of the season

We will shortly be putting in an order to Castelli for more stock of Club Clothing for 2012/13.  So you need to get your orders in now.  Click on the photos of kit below for more details.

In addition to adding to the stock of short sleeve jerseys and bib-shorts, we are taking orders for the Winter/Spring/Autumn items, such as the bib-tights, thermal long-sleeve jersey, gilet & winter jacket.   We DO NOT hold stock of these, and Castelli require us to order of at least 10 of each, so if you want them you must order now for this winter.  

Our sponsors Norfolk Motor Group (NMG) and Pedal Revolution have kindly agreed to continue their sponsorship of the club.  So the kit design will remain the same.

Order now by clicking here

What a weekend of Olympic cycling. A dissapointing, but none the less exciting mens race, was followed by a medal winning, inspiring womens race. Team VCN were out in force supporting team GB along the route and on Box Hill.

Two club members were even spotted by WIGGO as the pelaton swept through Putney High St!!

Good luck to the British Road teams for this weekend!

With the men tomorrow we have one of the strongest teams in the Olympics … National Champ Ian Stannard, joins Tour de France team Chris Froome, David Millar and Wiggo to hopefully lead out Cav for a win in front of the palace. Lots of VCN members will be on the roadside in London cheering them on…

Then on Sunday we have our own Emma Pooley riding with Lizzie Armistead, Lucy Martin and 2008 gold medallist Nicole Cooke in the women’s event. Emma joined the VCN training ride last Saturday whilst she was in Norwich before heading down to the GB holding camp. Let’s hope a Norfolk ride was the just the setup she needs for Sunday, although her eyes will also be on the time trial in a few days time.

Here’s to what should be a thrilling kick off to the games!… And if you aren’t in London then the TV timings are here.

The Gas Hill Gasp returned again this year, making for another successful and fantastic cycle racing event.

Read the Evening News report here, with picture gallery here

A wet start after a days of rain failed to deter the 35 starters for VCN’s summer road race. Those who chose to stay in bed missed a challenging day in the saddle with only the hardiest 16 (and those lucky enough to avoid the many punctures) making it to the finish. Wayne Crombie (East London Vélo) was a worthy winner. More of Mark Cozen’s photos here.

A full report and photos will follow soon…